Leadership Thoughts for Life Long Learners

Archive for the month “February, 2014”

Vision is clarifying. Possessing a vision of the preferred future is critical to every area of an organization. According to the ancient Proverb we find that vision is necessary for sustainability. As a leader we must constantly be laser focused on the vision in order to stay on the right path and end up at the correct destination of vision fulfillment.

Over the last few months I have been refocusing my energy and efforts back to the vision of the church that I lead. Honestly, I have to admit that this is a sobering exercise for any leader. I am sold out to our vision. I think about it daily. Hardly a moment goes by when the vision does not compel and move me. Yet, in a moment of honesty I had to ask, “do the people on my team and in my church know the vision God has given us?” While I believe most know the vision, have seen it and probably at moments have been moved by it, I have to admit that I could probably do much better at keeping the vision in focus and clear. This leads me to an important truth that has hit me over the last few weeks in this vision focus.

Without a vision the people perish. But, without PEOPLE the VISION perishes!

There are many noble visions I have heard of what a preferred future looks like. Some of those visions are even God-given visions. Yet, the difference between a vision spoken and a vision accomplished rests in the hands of the ability to not only articulate the vision to people, but move people to carry the vision themselves. The more people that carry the vision, the greater potential the vision will be realized. Do people matter? You BET! We love to highlight and celebrate the role of the vision caster, but what if we began to consider the importance of the vision carrier? Without people rallying around, buying into, and lifting the weight of the vision it would simply die on the vine and be fruitless.

Your job as a leader is to have a vision and cast that vision often and continually for sustainability. But recognize, for vision to be realized it must have people. Don’t let a God-given vision die on the vine, but find a way to incorporate people into the vision. Find ways to celebrate the people that rally around the vision. Discover how the vision impacts the people who carry it. You never know, it could be the difference between the life and death of the vision. So, what are some of your thoughts on how to get people to buy-in to vision? I would be curious to know.